A week later, I’m still basking in the glow of the awesomeness that was QuiltCon. Why don’t we have a giveaway so that I can share some of that awesomeness with you?

QuiltCon Magazine features many of the show quilts plus new original patterns.

First up, is a copy of QuiltCon magazine from Interweave. I was thrilled that two of my quilts were showcased in the magazine so I eagerly bought a copy for myself at the show. The publisher kindly sent me another copy for being a contributor, so I’m happy to pass that along to one of you!

For the blog hop, 15 different bloggers (including me) got a chance to read the book and make a pillow from one of the designs. Let me tell you right now, I have not made a quilted pillow since the early ’90s (I resist 3-D sewing) but boy did I have fun with this one.

I chose Amy’s Downtown block and tweaked it a little by using solids for all of the rectangle pieces to create an interesting abstract design. I really like the look of it and definitely need to work more modern design into my decor!

For the quilting design, I went to town stitching a whole bunch of random straight lines, using painter’s tape to help establish a straight angle. I quilted on either side of the tape, then used the edge of my presser foot as a guide to add additional random parallel lines.

The best tip I picked up from Amy’s book was how to finish the pillow. There are excellent step-by-step instructions on how to assemble the pillow front and back together, creating an opening in which to stuff a pillow form.

From the book I also learned that you can bind a pillow the same way you would for a regular quilt. I love the pop of color it adds! Now I’m not scared of pillows anymore and may just make another!

The pillow is currently sitting pretty in a corner of my very yellow dining room! If I get bored of using it as a pillow, it also makes a cute mini. :-)

Think Big includes a beautiful assortment of ten 18″ finished blocks, each with projects in five different sizes! I love how graphic and modern they are, and I’m sure you will, too!

Because Amy is so sweet as well as extremely generous, she’s also hosting a giveaway of several fabric bundles and a quilt featuring her Modern Neutrals fabric line!! To enter, simply pin a pillow to pinterest (say that 5 times fast) using the hashtags #ThinkBigBook and #PillowCollective. Click here for Amy’s Pillow Collective Pin Board.

Today is the last day of the blog hop, so be sure to check out all of the previous stops to see all of the other beautiful pillows. I’ve linked to each blogger’s pillow post below:

I’m super excited to be working with the National Quilting Association to not only spread the love of quilting, but to educate more people about modern quilts, too!

The NQA Annual Quilt Show is coming up in June and it’s going to include a fabulous judged show of around 400 quilts. The exciting thing is that it’s a non-juried show, which means that everyone gets in on a first-come first served basis. The even more exciting thing is that they will be offering cash prizes for Best of Show, Special Awards, and First Place in each category.

This is only the second time that NQA is has included a modern category in their mix, and I know they would love to see that genre well represented. I’m excited for the workshops I’ll be teaching (details here) and I would love to see quilts hanging in the show made by people I know – in any category!

I can express more in pictures than I can in words, so here are a few more fabulous quilts from QuiltCon:

Above, 11 of the 12 modern quilts of the month from 2014 were on display including Modern X, which was my pattern for March. The PDF quilt patterns are available for free to all Modern Quilt Guild members on the community site in the members-only forum.

It was fun to get a picture of myself standing next to Optical Illusion to show the scale of the design. It was fun to see people standing back to get a better look!

I loved meeting so many of my online friends in person including Michelle Wilkie, and our quilts got to be “neighbors” in the show! Abacus was my solid quilt and Neighborhood was hers. They both hung in the “small quilts” category.

I loved this small piece, titled “Oh the Places You’ll Go” by my friend and roommate, Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist designs. It reminds me of the art quilts that Michael James made in the 90’s, way back before I was ready for modern and contemporary designs!

I took so many pictures that I can’t possibly share them all in one post, so I invite you to follow me on instagram (or click here: @christaquilts) to see more! You can also search the hashtag #quiltcon to see thousands more images from the show. It truly was a social media event!

QuiltCon 2015 has been the most amazing event! It feels like a grand reunion of online friends who’ve never met! The quilts, lectures and social encounters are unlike any other show I’ve ever attended. I’ve seen the most beautiful quilts, I’ve met the most inspiring people, and I’ve had the most amazing experiences!

Being asked to autograph a copy of QuiltCon Magazine in which 2 of my quilts from the show were featured – such a surreal moment!

And many more amazing moments that will live in my memory for a long time! I always say I’ve never met a quilt or quilter I didn’t like. But coming to QuiltCon feels like I’ve found my tribe, and for that I am truly grateful. :-)

For Valentine’s Day, I got to spend the afternoon with Tula Pink, who came to town to lecture and promote her new Berning sewing machine at Quiltique in Las Vegas.

Tula and me – she’s much taller than I am, but so is everyone, LOL!!

Let me tell you – this gal is amazing, and not just because of her fabrics! She has incredible business acumen, is very clever and articulate, and has a great sense of self-confidence. Although she’s a big name in the industry, she’s very straightforward and down-to-earth, and she took the time to answer everyone’s questions and pose for pictures.

Here are some interesting tidbits:

Yes, Tula Pink is her real name. :-)

Tula was originally a fabric designer for Moda, then left the company to design for Free-Spirit fabrics when Moda wasn’t ready for her out-of-the box wild colors and splashy offbeat artwork. There’s no drama there though, and she has nothing but great things to say about both companies.

She started off in the record industry, creating album cover art for many famous musicians. She was happy to give up goth and skull drawings so she could focus instead on creating pink bunnies, teal horses and purple owls.

She draws all of her artwork by hand, working in shades of grey with pencil on graph paper. She designs to scale and thinks in repeat so as to create seamless scenery. To make the most of her “drawing economy,” she’ll only draw half images, if the design is to be a mirror image.

She’s incredibly focused – it can take up to 6 weeks just to get the coloring right on her drawings, after she’s spent an incredible amount of time working out the drawing details.

She’s a history buff and loves to read all she can about famous women in history – Marie Antionette, Queen Elizabeth, etc. These ladies have inspired some of her most well-known fabric lines.

Tula describes her style as “modernitional” – part modern, part traditional. She doesn’t want to be put in a box and simply wants to create what she loves, hoping her art will resonate with her audience.

Due to popular request, Tula will be offering a line of large scale, wide-backings soon!

She definitely resonated with me and I look forward to seeing more of her work in the future. Tula Pink’s fabric and threads are always a hot commodity in my precut store and I’m in the process now of designing a new pattern using her fabrics.

Congratulations to Caryn S. who wins a copy of Paper Pieced Modern from my friend Amy Garro. She has been contacted and the book is on it’s way!

I don’t know about you – but I am constantly amazed at the talent I’ve seen in the online quilting community. Between social media and the modern movement I feel like I’m chatting with lifelong friends who really get me and my style. I love it!

Also, – a huge thanks to those of you who helped out with my fabric destash.

Now I have a nice clean shelf that I will be filling up with all sorts of fun works-in-progress. For those that missed out, rest assured that I will be doing another one in a few weeks (maybe a couple of months). I still have loads of fabrics and goodies to clean out – stuff I just don’t use anymore.

Sneak peak of that quilt backing on the design wall coming soon….

I’m just about packed and ready for QuiltCon. I leave in the morning and will be sporting my favorite bag (made by my friend Vicki from A Quilter’s Mission) and an awesome lanyard that I got from Sewtopia.

Be sure to keep up with me throughout the week on instagram @christaquilts!

This week, I leave for QuiltCon, the the modern quilt show and conference. I’m excited to meet so many of my online friends there, and share my trip virtually with those of you who won’t be attending. I’ll be sure to write up a blog post or two while I’m there, and I’ll have day-by-day action (more like hour-by-hour) live on Instagram @christaquilts.

For those of you who have never gone, be sure to check out my QuiltCon post on Craftsy, for a sneak peek of what to expect. You can also go back and read my original posts from 2013 below. I’ve listed them in reverse chronological order.

I spent last weekend clearing off my entire shelf of novelty fabrics. I finally realized that as much as I love a good novelty print, I just don’t use them in my quilts. I’d rather sell them to you super cheap than let them languish on my shelves, unused. So here’s the deal:

I have a total of 12 flat rate boxes, crammed full of novelty prints that I’m offering for just $50 each, shipped to the US ($75 to Canada and $95 international). The boxes have at least 15 yards in them and probably even more. So that makes them under $3.50 per yard – shipped!!

Here’s the fine print: these are all quilt-shop quality fabrics that have been prewashed. Some may have edges that are a little raggedy and some may be a little wrinkled. A piece may have been cut out here and there. They are all in excellent condition and sizes range from about 1/8 to 1/4 yard all the way up to 2-3 yard pieces.

Each box will be randomly stuffed with a variety of novelty prints, most of which are shown here. Each box with be different and will include some fabrics from each group of pictures shown, plus a few more that didn’t make it into the pictures.

To claim your mystery box, just leave a comment below indicating how many boxes you want. I will select the first 12 buyers and payment will be via paypal. When you comment, It shows me your email address (but no one else can see it), so I will contact you that way to send you an invoice. So no need to share personal info here online.

I’m sorry, but I can’t accommodate requests for specific fabrics or smaller amounts. It’s all going to be random, but that will be half the fun of getting your box, right?? These prints are perfect for eye-spy quilts, charity projects and fun pieced backings!

To recap: leave a comment to claim your box for $50 shipped to the US. It will be a random assortment and all boxes will be stuffed with a good variety of novelty themed prints.

You know, one of the things I love most about the online quilting community is getting to know amazing quilters. When one of my virtual quilting friends writes a book, of course I want to tell you about it. :-)

The blocks are a generous 14″ x 14″ and I love how they float on the background. That’s a great design aesthetic because you don’t have to stress about chopping off your points when piecing!

Here’s what Amy had to say about this specific design:

“I had been looking through Nani Iro’s fabrics and when I saw this spotted one, I just knew I had to use it for this project! It’s a double gauze, which I’ve never worked with before. I found it very tricky & shifty. I starched the heck out of it and really benefited from the paper foundations – they stabilized the blocks as I was sewing.”

Image courtesy of C&T

Amy continues,

“The other challenge I ran into with this fabric was the fact that the dots were very sparse along the outer edges of the print. I had to use modified cutting instructions and order extra yardage. I absolutely love how it turned out, but what you probably wouldn’t guess by looking at this quilt is that I spent $100 on just the dotted fabric alone! Crazy!”

Isn’t the quilting scrumptious? It was quilted by Emily Session of Emerson Quilting.

Image courtesy of Amy Garro.

I for one think her efforts were worth it. I love the effect of the white fabric among the dots. Can you just imagine it in other colors? I did, so I jumped on the computer and quickly re-sketched the block in EQ using scrappy Sunprints from Alison Glass.

Wouldn’t this be a great way to use up your colorful scraps?

Be sure to check out the schedule below to see the rest of the quilts from the book. I know Amy is going to QuiltCon (and Apple Stars will be there, too!) so I can’t wait to hunt her down and chat in person. :-)

And Now for the Giveaway!

One of my readers will win a copy of Paper Pieced Modern by Amy Garro (hard copy for US addresses, E-copy for international folks). To enter, simply jump through each of the stops on the hop to see of all the quilts from the book.

Then, come back here to tell me which one of the quilts is your favorite! Of course, they haven’t all been revealed at the time of this blog post, so if you want to come back and leave a comment later after you’ve seen them all, that’s great, too!

The giveaway on my blog will remain open through midnight on Monday, February 16th. I’ll draw a winner’s name at random on Tuesday morning.